Got PIE?

Stricken by a sudden craving while we were roaming the aisles at the local Hy-Vee, I decided that I needed to attempt to bake a fake chicken pot pie. Growing up, I’ve eaten countless of those little frozen pucks of meat, but I’d honestly never tried a homemade version. Now that I’m vegetarian, I wouldn’t be trying the meaty version, but I definitely needed to try my hand at a meatless one.

I don’t know why I’m still so scared of pie dough. It’s never as difficult to make as I think it’s going to be. I’m just a lazy wuss, I guess.

In a large skillet, saute the onions and garlic in the butter on medium heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour until fully incorporated, and then slowly add the veggie stock until you’re left with a thick gravy. (While you’re doing this, you can be par-baking your lower crust in the oven. I baked it for 10 minutes at 325°.)

Add your sage and rosemary pinches now, and adjust to taste. Add mushrooms and bag of frozen vegetables and lower heat to allow to simmer.

Once the gravy is simmering again, add fake meat. Allow to heat up again to a simmer. Salt and pepper gravy to taste.

Dump the contents of your skillet into the waiting pie crust. Add the top crust to your pie, crimp the edges, cut three slits in the top, and brush the top with your whipped egg.

Bake pot pie at 375° for about 40 minutes, longer if necessary. It’s helpful to place your pie pan on top of a cookie sheet so that any overflow is caught and doesn’t dirty up the floor of your oven, smoking up and causing the smoke detectors to go off.

I really, reallllly love Quorn chicken. I also love that it’s made from fungus rather than soy, since I try not to eat much soy for various reasons. I usually only use this particular meat analog for Philly Cheese(chikn)steak sandwiches, but the fact that it was already cut into smaller chunks and the cheaper price sold me on it for this usage. I’ll probably try it with Quorn next time, though, just to compare the two.